Dana Hills softball takes advantage

Dana Hills' Olivia Baltazar gets a hit during a South Coast League softball game against San Clemente on Tuesday afternoon at Dana Hills. PAT CUBEL, FOR THE REGISTER

DANA POINT – A little bit of situational hitting carried the Dana Hills softball team a long way on Tuesday.

On the other hand, San Clemente, despite some hard-hit balls, spent the afternoon mostly just spinning its wheels in a 2-1 Sea View League loss.

Both teams got effective pitching, with Olivia Baltazar surrendering just one unearned run on eight hits, while San Clemente's Lauren Gonzalez-Willis (4 1/3 innings) and Lauren Kane combining on a four-hit effort over six innings.

"She's just rock solid, she doesn't get rattled and she makes pitches when she has to," Dolphins assistant coach Mike Skelly said of Baltazar. "She's just a very cool customer for a junior. She has a very steady head."

But the game came down to a contrast in styles at the plate in the first two innings, as San Clemente, which fell to 1-1 in league and 4-9 overall heading into the Michelle Carew Tournament on Wednesday, let an early opportunity slip by, while the Dolphins made the most of a modest rally.

Kane and Caroline Tully (four for four) led off the game with back-to-back singles and both runners moved into scoring position with no outs on a throwing error. But the Tritons followed that up with two strikeouts and a fly ball to centerfield.

Dana Hills (5-10, 1-1) started its half of the second inning with a lead-off walk and an infield single by Reece Schwartz that moved lead runner Sam Schwartz to third base. The Dolphins wouldn't need another hit to cash in both runners, as consecutive ground-ball outs hit to the right side of the infield by Frankie Tago and Kat Abramek were enough to give Dana Hills a 2-0 lead it would never relinquish.

"I think the big difference in this game was really the first inning – both teams got their first two hitters on base, and maybe it's maturity, but their upperclassmen knew the situation they were in and they put the ball on the ground and moved the runners to score," said Tritons Coach Paul Hill, whose team struck out six times and lofted eight harmless fly-ball outs into Dana Hills' cavernous outfield in the game, where the Tritons left eight runners on base. "Ours were trying to be the hero. It's a learning experience. These are the type of games that hopefully we will learn from and it will make us stronger for the rest of the way."

San Clemente had some chances late in the game. Tully's two-out single to shortstop with a runner on first base in the top of the sixth induced a two-base throwing error by the Dolphins that allowed the Tritons' only run to score. In the top of the seventh, Isabella Moiso led the frame off with a single, but never made it off first base, as Baltazar induced back-to-back popups on the infield and the game ended on a slick pick of Gonzalez-Willis' sharp grounder up the middle.

"We always have close games with San Clemente one way or the other," Skelly said. "When we had runners in scoring position we've been popping up and today we hit ground balls to the other side and those were our runs."

Dana Hills' Olivia Baltazar gets a hit during a South Coast League softball game against San Clemente on Tuesday afternoon at Dana Hills. PAT CUBEL, FOR THE REGISTER
Dana Hills' Samantha Schwartz celebrates with her teammates after scoring the first run during a South Coast League softball game against Dana Hills on Tuesday afternoon at Dana Hills. PAT CUBEL, FOR THE REGISTER

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